


Death is the Stage, My Art is Your Grave

by Miracle-Sham (ShamrockTales)



Series: MariTim Maribat2k20 Week [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Blood and Violence, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Crossover Pairings, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Damsels in Distress, Explicit Language, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Injections, Implied/Referenced Needles, Kidnapping, Kissing, MariBat, Maribat2k20, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Murder, Murder Mystery, Needles, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Not Canon Compliant, Rescue Missions, Serial Killers, Some Swearing, mentions of drug rings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22277911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShamrockTales/pseuds/Miracle-Sham
Summary: | Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a rookie police officer in the GCPD. On her first day she's assigned one hell of a case. On the bright side, by working on the case she's somehow managed to catch the attention of a couple of bats. || {Maribat 2k20 – Day 4: Crime Scene(s)} |
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Tim Drake/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: MariTim Maribat2k20 Week [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618285
Comments: 27
Kudos: 323





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> | [[Tumblr Link]](https://miracle-sham.tumblr.com/post/190287799563/death-is-the-stage-my-art-is-your-grave) |
> 
> | A/N: So as I mentioned in the authors note of the previous ficlets, I got mugged in the dark dank alleyway by the Maribat2k20 MariTim prompt calendar and stabbed by the knives of inspiration. However, like VYSUYK, this too was a knife of the angst inspo, also it's sort of slow burn? In the fact that it's 5k and I kinda forgot the ship was the main point of this ficlet. The ship's still there, it's just sorta slow burn for a oneshot. |
> 
> | Also side note, Don't Like? Don't Read. Also please do not criticise any of my writing. This was written for fun and receiving criticism, even in a compliment/criticism sandwich, is the exact opposite of fun. |

* * *

Marinette stares down the Gotham Police Department building and asks herself, _first day on the job, how bad can it really it be?_

She's heard rumours, of course. Of how horrible, crime-ridden, crazy infested, rotten, filthy, and decaying the city is, that is Gotham. It's a stark difference to Paris. From its reputation alone, no wonder so many tried to discourage her from doing this—moving here and taking up this job. _But it's not like I had a choice, really. I mean I did but ever since I took off the Miraculous for the last time, it's been difficult to adjust to a life with no crime-fighting._

So here she is, "bright-eyed" (Chat Noir—Adrien always did say no matter how haunted she looks, she can still pull off pretending to be naïve and innocent) and fresh from the police academy. _Rookie, fresh blood, fresh meat, newbie, whatever. She's here._

Marinette breathes in deeply and sighs. She hops up the last few steps leading up to the building and walks in. Someone grabs her by the arm before she's barely made it five steps through the door. Focussing on her breathing pattern, she violently shoves down the instinct to flip the person gripping her over her shoulder. It wouldn't look good for the small female inexperienced rookie from Paris to immediately assault someone inside the precinct. _Yeah._

The someone who has grabbed her speaks up, voice gravelly with the undertones of stressed, tired, and agitated. “Y'lost pipsqueak?”

Slowly, she shakes her head, chanting a mantra in her head, _stay calm. Not an Akuma. Don't fight. I'm not in danger._ She catches sight of the person, some ragged looking old white police officer dude, charming. “'Looking for Commissioner Gordon? Is he around?”

“Why d'you wanna know?”

Marinette gestures with her free arm towards her clothing—her police officer uniform. “I'm new, got called in to come in now instead of earlier with the rest of the rookies.”

The grip on her arm loosens somewhat as the person speaks again. “Huh, alright then kid. He's in 'is office.”

“Not a kid.” She automatically responds—an old habit from her days in sparkling spotty magic Spandex—and takes a step away from him, removing her from his grip.

The person laughs. “M'name's Harvey, kid. Harvey Bullock. Nice to meetcha.”

Marinette raises an eyebrow. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Now if you'll excuse me…”

The man—Harvey waves his hand, “Yeah, yeah, don't wanna keep Gordon waiting.” And walks off. Without giving her the directions to Commissioner Gordon's office. _Great. Just great._

She huffs bitterly and makes her way further in before spotting the glass-windowed room that looks like it's probably the Commissioner's office. Switching directions to head there, it _feels_ like it takes ages but that's just because she's being hyper-aware of her surroundings, not wanting to get caught off guard again by shadow-lurking creeps—and by that she specifically means vigilantes and criminals, and by extension villains too, not that they're likely to be sneaking around a police precinct but point. Once she reaches the office, delicately, she raps her knuckles against the wood of the door.

“Come in.” Calls the commissioner.

Quietly, she opens the door and slips through, closing it behind herself. “You asked to see me now, instead of earlier with the other rookies.”

Commissioner Gordon glances up at her from his mountain of paperwork, “I did,” there's a shuffle of paper before he continues, sounding bone-tired. “We're assigning you to be Detective Grayson's partner. He wasn't here this morning but he, and by extension, you now, have been assigned a difficult case and I'm sorry this is going to be your first case but I need you to head over there immediately. Grayson _should_ be there when you arrive.”

Marinette nods, not really having expected anything less.

“Detective McKenna is on a case not far from yours and so will drop you off, so you don't get lost since you're new in Gotham.” He adds on. “She's waiting in the car park.”

Marinette waits for a second in case he speaks more but all he does is return to the paperwork. She spins on her heel and exits the office.

* * *

When she reaches the car park she spots who she assumes is Detective McKenna, leaning against a police car. She waves at her and hurries over. “Hi, are you Detective McKenna?”

“Yeah, now get in. You wanna get to your crime scene before the _vigilantes_ get there, don't you?” Detective McKenna opens the car door to the driver's seat and sits down.

_Well someone doesn't like vigilantes._ Marinette thinks, hesitating before going around the other side of the car and opening the door, slips into the passenger seat.

* * *

She's dropped off by the rest of the police cars parked near the crime scene—Aparo Park—and there's no sign of her partner anywhere. She sighs and gets work, talking over what's already been found and other case-related information to the rest of the officers on the scene. She's yet to see what the actual crime scene looks like but from what's gathered she's not sure she wants to. Apparently, the victim is a meta who could create sparks and small flames from their fingertips—minor pyrokinesis. Ironic, according to the officers and Crime Scene Investigators that have already seen of the state of the victim.

All too soon she runs out of information to hear and walks over to the scene of the crime—and she blanches at the sight of it. _Oh god_ , It takes her a second to process what she's seeing and compare it to what she had heard about it. It's, it's a sight and a half for sure, and not in a good way.

In the middle of the bandstand is a twisting structure of orange and yellow glass shards stained red in places where rivulets of blood have dried. The way the shards are arranged makes it look like it's supposed to look like flames. In the centre of the glass piece, there's a corpse with the back cut open in the "blood eagle" style of execution. The way the corpse is positioned, it looks like it's rising from the fire, arms outstretched. The corpse is also wearing a crown of golden feathers.

Marinette steps away from the bandstand and spots an easel resting unobtrusively against the outside. Oddly enough the canvas on the easel is the wrong way around, only the side with the back and frame is visible. There's scrawled writing on the back which says "Aparo Phoenix Rising". That's when she spots the flecks of red on the edges of the easels frame. She spins around and catches the attention of one of the Crime Scene Investigators, waving them over, and turning to point their attention to the easel. _It could just be paint, but it won't hurt to double-check._

The Investigator turns the canvas over with gloved hands and whistles appreciatively. “Shit, this one fucked up bastard, don'tcha think?”

Marinette stares at the turned over canvas with wide eyes and a wave of nausea crashes over her as she realises what she's seeing. Because on the canvas is a painted rendition of the corpse sculpture in the bandstand. “Yeah…”

She's jolted from her shock as she spots three figures a little ways behind the bandstand, lurking in the shadows. So she does the smart thing in this situation, not, and speed walks over to the trio. Once she's close enough to make out the figures a little better, she recognises two as the Gotham vigilantes Red Hood and Red Robin— _and dang is the second one cute,_ she shakes her head, _no time to be distracted; job first, hero crush later_ —and the third figure is wearing GCPD officer uniform.

The figures all spot her before she can get within two metres, the two vigilantes looking awfully flighty the closer she gets. _As if I'd arrest them, I'm no hypocrite._ She puts on her brightest smile and stops a few places away. Keeping her main gaze purely at the officer, she offers her hand out for a handshake. “I'm assuming you're Detective Dick Grayson, correct?”

The man gives her an odd look then a positively dazzling grin and shakes her hand. “Yeah, that's me and who are you?”

From the corner of her eye, she can see the two vigilantes eyeing her like a threat. “Pleasure to meet you! I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I've just been assigned your partner, I'd say in crime but I feel like that'd be a poor joke to make as a new police officer!”

Detective Grayson's smile softens around the edges, becoming something more real. He opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by the Red Hood striding forwards and presumably glaring her down but it's hard to tell with the whole red helmet in the way.

“Aren't you gonna arrest me?” He pauses before tacking on, “not that I'm complaining.”

Marinette shrugs, tilting her head to the side like a confused small baby animal but also returning the (presumed) glare, hands on her hips. “Don't the police here work with the heroes? I mean that's how Paris does things, I didn't think it would be that different here. Especially since Gotham's apparently had its heroes a lot longer than Paris did.”

“Vigilantes.” All three correct, slightly out of sync, casting glances at each other all the same time.

Red Robin puts his hand on Red Hood's shoulder and pulls him back, away from her by a few places. “No, the GCPD doesn't really like us for the most part. They're not exactly happy when we complete their cases and make their arrests before them.”

“Well, you seem pretty familiar with Detective Grayson.” Marinette retorts, raising an eyebrow.

Detective Grayson splutters and mumbles out a bunch of excuses.

She shakes her head. “Well as long as you don't impede the investigation and let me make the final arrest then I won't stop you vigilantes poking about.”

Red Robin hums, head tilted to the side as if thinking the preposition over. “And why should we let you make the final arrest?”

Marinette grins cheekily. “Think of it as a first police case present from you to me.” She snorts. “I'm kidding, now if you vigilantes are done stalking the shadows, Detective Grayson and I have a case to work on. Au Revoir!”

Spinning on her heel, she speed walks back to the bandstand, Detective Grayson following a step behind—unbeknownst to her, she turns in time to just miss the flustered look on Red Robin but she does hear the raucous burst of laughter from Red Hood. She rolls her eyes.

* * *

A fortnight passes and they don't manage to collect enough evidence to find a culprit before the Aparo Park killer strikes again. This time the crime scene is in Puckett Park, centring around the middle of the park's fountain.

Marinette grimaces, crinkling her nose as she approaches, Detective Grayson isn't here yet, _probably late—again_. So she had to catch a lift from another officer heading to the scene; _luckily it wasn't Detective McKenna again, I don't think I'd be able to keep quiet if she keeps bad-mouthing the local vigilantes._

Tugging on her jacket in attempts to adjust it whilst keeping herself warm in the chilly Gotham night air, Marinette regards the scene, squinting and subconsciously curling her lips at the sight. Another victim, another corpse sculpture. _One more like this and we'll have a serial killer on our hands._

The main water feature in the fountain has been ripped out of the fountain and the rubble is scattered around the pool in such a way that it only adds to the sculpture.

The corpse sculpture itself is the same modus operandi as the previous one. Stained glass in a twisted tower with a corpse half impaled on it, back cut open blood eagle style, and the victim's body posed to look as though it's rising (from the water in this case) with their arms outstretched.

There's even another easel leaning against the stone rim of the fountain, with the canvas turned over.

This time, the glass shards are white and blue, also with dried rivulets of blood down them. It looks like the shards are arranged to replicate waves as opposed to the previous one's flames. The legs of the victim are twisted together and wrapped in silver scale mail to mimic a fishtail.

_If it wasn't so horrific, it would make for a beautiful painting. Like something you'd find in an expensive art gallery._ Marinette muses, paling the longer she stands there analysing. _Actually, thinking about it, I wouldn't put it past the rich to try and buy the paintings if—once the case gets closed._

Marinette shakes her head and steps close enough to the easel to read the scrawled writing on it, "Puckett Hippocampus Rising". As she's reading, a Crime Scene Investigator joins her—surprisingly it's the same one as before. She nods to the Investigator, “hey.”

“Hey to you too. So the fucked up bastard struck again huh.” The Investigator responds, turning over the canvas with gloved hands to reveal a painted rendition of the corpse sculpture scene before them. “Had any luck narrowing down the perp?”

She hums noncommittally. “Police case confidentiality, sorry.”

The Investigator shrugs. “I expected as much. By the way, they managed to ID the vic by the way, a teen who was kicked out of their house for having hydrokinesis, another meta.”

“Ah…”

“Yeah.”

Marinette pauses, narrowing her eyes at the shadows by a cluster of trees off to the side of the fountain. “I think I spot my partner, bye.”

She jogs over to the trees and _lo and behold,_ there stands Detective Grayson, accompanied by Red Robin and Batgirl. No Red Hood in sight so maybe hopefully she won't get glared at. “Detective Grayson!” She greets with no real bite behind her words, “nice of you to finally arrive.”

“Ah well, you see…” Detective Grayson starts, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the nape of his neck.

Shaking her head and waving a hand, Marinette rolls good-naturedly before pursing her lips and side-eyeing the vigilantes, cocking her head to the side. She stabilises her stance and plonks her hands on her hips in an action reminiscent of the pose she took when glaring down the Red Hood. “Look I don't know how or why you're involved with Gotham's heroes—”

“Vigilantes.” The three corrected, in chorus this time.

Marinette narrows her eyes at the three of them. “—Vigilantes then but I don't care, you're business is your business and they're certainly doing good for this city from what I can see.” She takes a breath and then continues lecturing. “But my point is, regardless of whatever your reason for being involved with them is, you shouldn't be acting so familiar with each other in such plain view.” She gestures back towards the crime scene, where the Crime Scene Investigator she had been talking to waves at them. “What if a villain saw you and decided to blackmail you into betraying them, kidnap, torture you for information, or kill you just to get at them? Especially if a villain assumes you know their identities. So just be more careful next time.” She finishes with a shake of her head and blows a stray hair away from her face.

Red Robin and Batgirl valiantly try to quell their giggles and snorts but quickly become forced to lean on each other as they barrel over in laughter. Batgirl even wipes a finger just under the whiteouts of her mask, as if to wipe away a tear.

Whereas Detective Grayson looks thoroughly chagrined. “I-uh, right…” He pauses and stares at her wide-eyed, “wait I hope you didn't just imply that you think I'm having a secret affair with one of the vigilantes.”

His response seems to only fuel Red Robin and Batgirl's amusement.

Marinette shoots him a look of disbelief. “I am well aware that not every relationship a civilian and hero can have is purely romantic thank you very much.”

It takes a solid minute before the vigilantes are able to breathe without devolving into more giggles. Although their attempts certainly aren't helped by the looks of concern and betrayal Detective Grayson keeps sending them.

She turns to Red Robin and Batgirl. “Right well if you're both finished—”

Batgirl raises her hands in defence. “Oh no! We know all about how to properly interact with civilians when in the mask, we don't need a lecture too!”

Raising an eyebrow at them, Marinette rolls her eyes and deadpans. “—I _was_ going to ask if either of you has had a chance to investigate the crime scene yet?”

Batgirl glances always and mumbles something under her breath that Marinette can't quite catch but it causes Red Robin to snort.

He takes half a step forward and shrugs. “No, we haven't yet. We were going to until you and _Detective Grayson_ showed up.”

Marinette flashes him a humorous smirk. “Well I need to report the updates on the case to Detective Grayson anyway, so you and Batgirl might as well stick around to pay attention.”

Red Robin smirks back at her, “That _would_ be easier.”

And Marinette has to stop her heart from fluttering at the sight of his smirk and— _is he blushing? Oh no_ —by mentally reminding herself to not get attached— _Stop getting distracted by how cute and pretty Red Robin is! Job first, hero crush later._ It does not stop her from blushing as well.

Beside them, both Detective Grayson and Batgirl facepalm.

Clearing her throat, Marinette shakes her head and proceeds to rattle off all relevant information to the case and crime scene.

“Thanks, Officer Dupain-Cheng.” Red Robin says, winking at her.

Batgirl makes a noise of distress and irritation. “Yeah, thanks…”

“No problem!” Marinette grins, trying to keep her blush from getting any redder.

Detective Grayson takes her by the shoulder and starts leading her away from the vigilantes. “ _Okay_ , I think that's enough fraternising with the dubious vigilantes.”

Red Robin and Batgirl make similar noises of offence. “Hey! We're not that dubious!”

As they arrive at the centre of crime scene again, she catches sight of Batgirl elbowing Red Robin in the side, his face bright red and he's staring after her.

* * *

Another fortnight passes and no there's been no more progress on their mysterious art park killer. Marinette's on her way back from the fashion district, having gone for a quick shop to grab some more supplies, coffee in hand. She's passing through Grant Park when a familiar structure meets her eyes. She blanches and her shopping bag slips from her grip but thankfully she doesn't drop her coffee. “ _Shit._ ”

She steps closer to double-check it is what she thinks it is. Inside one of the fenced-off flower beds, is another corpse sculpture, same as the previous two. Green and brown stained glass arranged to look like vines and roots in a twisted tower with a corpse half impaled on it, back cut open blood eagle style, and the victim's body posed to look as though it's rising from the flower bed with their arms outstretched. And surprise, surprise. An easel with a turned over canvas is set up on the other side of the sculpture.

Marinette fumbles for her phone and swipes down to call Detective Grayson, and then Commissioner Gordon, to inform them that she's found another crime scene with the same modus operandi to their park killer case. Elevating their crim from a themed killer to a serial killer.

She sets going about the protocol for taping off and preserving a crime scene for when the investigation team arrives.

Ten minutes later, the crime scene investigation team and police squad arrive and Marinette picks up her supplies then sits down on a bench out of sight from the rest of the force but with a view of the scene. She takes slow sips of her coffee. For once Detective Grayson is on time but she still managed to beat him here.

Marinette watches as he scans the crime scene and bustling team of investigators. She hides a smile behind her coffee as he perks up like a puppy and bounds over to her.

“Hey, you okay?” He asks, a look of concern furrowing his brow, eyeing her like he's almost expecting her to be hurt.

If this was an Akuma related situation, she could understand that sentiment but accidentally coming across a crime scene didn't warrant that sort of concern. Marinette shakes her head. “Would you believe if I said I've had a long night?”

Detective Grayson glances down at his wristwatch and then back to her, looking even more concerned. “It's only just gone eight o'clock.”

“A very long early night then.” She takes another slow sip of her coffee. It's practically luke-warm at this point but the familiar taste is a small bit of comfort.

He hmphs and there's a lull of relative silence.

The Crime Scene Investigator, who she chatted with at the previous two crime scenes, walks over to them. “Killer's M.O.'s the same.”

“Painted rendition on the turned over canvas?” Marinette checks reluctantly.

Staring at her, the Investigator adds, “yeah, this one was titled Grant Owlman Rising this time instead though. Also, we've managed to ID the vic.”

“Already, that's quick?” Marinette frowns, getting a niggling suspicious feeling, not noticing Detective Grayson paling at the title.

“Uh-huh, they're another meta, got minor geokinesis. I need to return to work now, but I thought you'd appreciate the heads up.” The Investigator waves and walks away.

“Mhmm, thanks,” Marinette responds on autopilot, mind whirling with thoughts and theories. She chews on her lip and squints at the crime scene. She turns to Detective Grayson. “I'm starting to think our killer's an AtLA fan?”

Detective Grayson twists his mouth and cocks his head to the side. “AtLA?”

Marinette turns her squint onto him. “Avatar the Last Airbender! Have you seriously never heard of it before?”

Shrugging, he rubs the nape of his neck. “I think I've heard it in passing but being a police detective hasn't exactly left me time to check out new shows...”

Marinette mock gasps. “Inconceivable!”

Detective Grayson snorts. “I don't think any of my siblings have seen it either.”

“Oh, the horror! As soon as this case is over we'll have to remedy that! What better excuse than this for Family plus one co-worker movie night!” She jokes, grinning stupidly.

Detective Grayson opens his mouth to answer but another Investigator calls him over to the crime scene.

Barely a second after Detective Grayson's departure, a familiar red and black-clad vigilante hops down from a tree.

Marinette gives him a deadpan stare. “If you wanted info on the case, you didn't need to stalk us or eavesdrop. Asking politely is an option.”

Red Robin flushes bright red, looking positively scandalised. “I wasn't stalking!”

She raises an eyebrow. “Uh-huh.”

“You just happen to be sitting at the most strategic place to survey the crime scene without getting caught by the GCPD.” He explains flimsily.

“Then what is Detective Grayson and I? Chopped liver?” Marinette challenges.

“I'm not going to answer that.” Red Robin responds with a half-smile.

“Good idea.” Marinette teases, grinning widely. Then she hesitates, grin faltering.

He notices this, going straight into concerned™ mode. “Is something?”

She tilts her head to the side. “There's a pattern with the victims. The first had a fire-themed sculpture and had pyrokinesis, the second had a water-themed sculpture and had hydrokinesis, and the third has a plant-themed sculpture and geokinesis. Meaning there's one more element left, air. So you wouldn't happen to have a way to somehow find a list of all the metas with aerokinesis, would you?”

Red Robin hums. “I might.”

Marinette pulls out a notebook and a pen and quickly scribbles down her phone number. “Here,” she says, ripping the note from the book and passing it over to him. “Text me a list if you're able to?”

He nods. “I'll try.”

She grins, suppressing the urge to give him a hug in thanks. “Thank you!”

Saluting, Red Robin disappears into the shadows.

* * *

Thirteen days later, Marinette finishes up the last of her paperwork. She fires off a quick text tell Detective Grayson that she's going to check on the other half of the people on the list Red Robin provided her.

Five hours pass, and she's checked through eight names on the list. The next potential target is a young nurse.

Marinette walks towards the hospital the nurse is working out and spots the nurse leaving. She's about to jog to the nurse instead but a familiar person steps out from the shadows in front of her, the Crime Scene Investigator.

“Hey. You shouldn't be walking 'round Gotham alone this late.”

With a tight-lipped smile, Marinette responds, “That's nice of you to worry but I'll be fine. Now if you don't mind, I have to talk to someone and I'm in a rush.”

The Investigator grabs her by the wrist and it takes all her willpower to not throw him into the nearest wall. He gives her a slow uncurling smirk. “Mhmm, you're looking into people you think might be the next vics, ain'tcha?”

Several alarm bells are ringing in her head at this point and she carefully sends an SOS message with her location attached to Detective Grayson, without the investigator noticing. “I might be, I might not be.”

The Investigator chuckles. “You're a bright one. Unfortunately, I can't have you interfering with my plans yet.”

It takes a second for her to process what the Investi—serial killer just admitted. She sends a message over text to Detective Grayson informing him that she's found the serial killer. Luckily for her, the Investigator seems to enjoy monologuing in her ear about the murders he has committed and lamenting how none of the police force appreciates his genius. In one move she pulls her phone out, snaps a photo of his face, and sends it to Detective Grayson.

The Investigator snarls. “You _bitch!_ ”

She tries to flip him over her shoulder but he pulls her into a chokehold, sapping away her strength, and then there's a pinprick of pain from the side of her neck.

Marinette tries to scream and break out of the hold but with her strength gone and whatever she was injected with working too quickly, the chokehold is impossible for her to escape. Her phone falls from her hands and clatters to the pavement, screen shattering while darkness pulls her under and she goes limp.

* * *

When Marinette comes to, she's blindfolded and gagged, with her wrists and ankles chained together. Everything's numb and fuzzy. She can hear shouting, clanging, and gunfire in the distance but her head and ears feel like someone stuffed cotton wool inside.

Marinette's not sure if she's drifting in and out of consciousness or not but the sounds seem to be steadily coming closer. The closer the sounds get, the more an achy pain forms.

Then she hears a vaguely familiar voice very close by, “ _shit,_ no-no-no! Dick, I've found Marinette.”

There's a rustle and then a faint pressure against her ribs followed by a flare of red hot pain. Instinctively, Marinette tries to curl up and protect herself.

The gag and blindfold are removed and Marinette's greeted with the sight of a very worried (and very blurry) Red Robin. She's also in a warehouse— _typical villain lair._

Her vision swims as she tries to speak but her words slurring slightly, not completely convinced what she's seeing is real— _why would a hero save me? After all, no one tried to save me when I was hurt as Ladybug so why would anyone care to rescue me as my civilian self?_ “Red Robin? What're—what are you doing here?”

“Definitely has bruised ribs, and has been drugged, there's some needle marks on the back of her neck.” He reports, ignoring her.

Marinette furrows her brow and squints at Red Robin. “'M fine?”

He turns to her and gives her a wry look. “You're phrasing that like a question. So clearly you're not.”

She watches as Red Robin fishes a lockpicking set from his utility belt and gets to work unlocking the chains around her wrists and ankles. As the drug wears off, a wave of pain hits her. Marinette yelps and tears spring to get eyes.

“You're gonna be fine. Not much longer and we can get you to safety.” Red Robin assures.

“I know,” She mumbles, “you're here after all.”

Red Robin blushes bright red. “ _Oh._ ”

She goes to say something else but the click of the locks falling off distract her. Stiffly she stands up, partially—mostly leaning on Red Robin for support and rubs at her wrists. “Ow.”

Gently, he took her by the shoulders and guided her towards the exit of the warehouse. “Come on, you need to be checked by the parameds.”

Marinette stumbles and stops, refusing to move any further. “Wait!”

Red Robin freezes. “What's wrong?”

“Kiss me like a damsel in distress,” Marinette mutters in demand, only half aware of what she's saying—still convinced her rescue is actually just a really vivid dream.

“What? No, you're drugged!” He responds in horror, stepping away from her then realises his mistake as she sways and grabs her by the shoulders once again before she can fall over.

Marinette huffs, mildly irritated but finally sounding far more lucid than when Red Robin found her. “It's just ketamines, that's why I'm hallucinating getting rescued. So hallucination Red Robin, gimme a kiss before the hallucination ends because you're cute and I'm a damsel in distress and everyone knows the hero kisses the damsel in distress after rescuing her.” 

“ _Oh, Marinette…_ ” Red Robin stares at her, conflicted but will quickly dissolving. “Fine.”

He takes her breath away with a kiss. Her eyes widen in surprise, not having expected him to comply.

“Oh.” She says when he takes a half step back, heart fluttering and mind spinning, only just realising that she's fallen head over heels for him, and more importantly realising that this wasn't a hallucination but the actual Red Robin. “ _Oh._ ”

She chews her lip anxiously. “Wow. Okay. Uhh, so you're not a hallucination?”

“Er, no… sorry for taking advantage of you.” Red Robin responds, looking equally anxious.

“No, no, I did ask you to kiss me and everything.” She pauses to say something else but a flash of shadows behind them catches both their attention.

“Dick?” Red Robin stills and asks slowly—tone dangerous. “Did you just take blackmail photos of me kissing Marinette?”

Detective Grayson steps out of the shadows looking very sheepish. “You forgot to mute your comms. What else was I supposed to do? Interrupt you two? that would be cruel!”

“Oh my god.” Marinette slaps her hands over her face.

Red Robin wraps a protective arm over her shoulders and pulls her against his armoured chest. “Dick, you should be so glad that you're on duty right now and that I abide by the no-killing rule. Because you're so dead. Delete. The. Photos. Now.”

Detective Grayson smirks and sprints away. “No can do! Gotta go arrest our killer!”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> | Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot! Comments, kudos, and bookmarks are much appreciated! |


	2. When Sitting on the Roof, We are but Coffee Sleuths.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> | After a long day of boring casework, there's nothing better than getting a new commission and then drinking coffee and having a chat on top of a roof with a certain bat. |

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> | [[Tumblr Link]](https://miracle-sham.tumblr.com/post/190531236218/when-sitting-on-the-roof-we-are-but-coffee) |
> 
> | Chapter specific triggers/warnings: Mentions of drugs/drug ring (in regards to a case), Mild language. |
> 
> | A/N: First of all, I'd like to quickly thank everyone for all the positive response and support the original oneshot got on both Tumblr and Ao3! It really motivated and inspired me to continue with this Au (expect at least another sequel, maybe more if I get more inspo but even if I don't there's definitely gonna be one sequel minimum to this). I'd also like to mention, that this took a lot longer to write as I got a cold halfway through writing it and also it's romance based fluff (which is not my forté), so y'know thanks to those who've waited for this! And finally, for reasons that I'll explain in a post on Tumblr later, it might be a "little" while before I can start work on the sequel to this one but it will get written at some point. |
> 
> | Also side note, Don't Like? Don't Read. Also also, please do not criticise any of my writing. This was written for fun and receiving criticism, even in a compliment/criticism sandwich, is the exact opposite of fun. |

* * *

It's been a month since Marinette got kidnapped, kissed Red Robin, and solved the Elemental Park Serial Killer case. For three weeks she's been held off active duty to make sure her bruised ribs heal but now that she's able to be on active duty again, all the available cases are those that are paperwork heavy. A small part of her misses the immediate healing of the Miraculous Cure but she's not Ladybug anymore and even if she was, it would raise too many flags for her to even use it anyway. But logic doesn't stop her from missing the days when she could literally and metaphorically magic away her aches and pains.

Marinette groans and slumps into her chair, it's been a surprisingly slow day at the GCPD, so when her phone beeps rapidly for a few seconds, she thinks, _please be something interesting _, and can't help but take a quick glance to see what new notifications she has. The screen reads: '3 new messages from Red'. So she taps the notification and reads through each message.__

____

__

> > **RedRob:** Hey, found some new evidence on our case, want to meet up for coffee to discuss it?

> > **RedRob:** Rooftop coffee after dark, of course.

> > **RedRob:** I mean I could waltz into a coffee shop during the day in my suit but that might get too much attention for case talk.

Marinette snickers to herself as she reads the messages over a second time. She quickly taps out her response.

> > **MariBlue:** Will we need to worry about one of the other Gotham vigilantes crashing our coffee not-date?

Almost instantly she receives a response.

> > **RedRob:** I'll bribe Oracle or Batgirl, maybe even Black Bat, into keeping the others away.

She sends a heart emoji back, then returns to sorting out her boring paperwork.

Detective Grayson raises an eyebrow at her from over the desk, clearly having caught her looking at her phone. “Red Robin again?”

She flashes him a sheepish grin. “How'd you guess.”

He gives her a deadpan stare. “He's the only person you respond to when working.”

Marinette bites her lip. “Whoops, that obvious?”

“Yes.” Detective Grayson hesitates for a second, he leans in closer—and like a teenage girl at a sleepover in a cheesy teen drama, asks, “So are you dating yet?”

She shrugs. “Well neither of us have asked the other so not really.”

“But you guys are perfect for each other!” He exclaims, gesturing towards her with an outstretched arm—very narrowly avoiding knocking anything off the desk.

It's Marinette's turn to raise an eyebrow. “We literally have only seen or talked to each other when working…”

“So? What do you call you quote unquote "not-dates"” He huffs, making air quotes as he speaks.

She huffs and shakes her head. “There's a reason they're called "not-dates" and that's because we discuss work at them. And anyway it's too early to rush our relationship.”

“Fair.” Detective Grayson stills, frowns and then almost hesitantly, he asks, “Is it because if the mask? The whole not knowing his real identity?”

Marinette rolls her eyes and shakes her head again. “Nope, I couldn't care less about finding out his real identity—at least not without his consent that is.”

He hums, a pensive look on his face. “So you're not curious?”

She shrugs. “Not particularly, why?”

Detective Grayson shrugs back. “Just wondering,” he leans back on his chair and for a split second, Marinette fears he might topple over but somehow he seems unaffected by gravity, “I think you're the first person I've met, who doesn't want to know who's behind a vigilante's mask.”

A smile tugs at Marinette's lips. “I think it's kinda dumb that so many people are obsessed with the people behind the masks because if they're doing good, unmasking them will only deter them from continuing fighting the good fight and all that, y'know.”

He nods slowly, “huh, that's one way of putting it I guess but I agree, the vigilantes do more for this city than people think they do.” Detective Grayson then tilts his head towards the Commissioner's office. “Anyway back to work, don't want to get in more trouble with the Commish than we are already!”

Marinette huffs in amusement and rolls her eyes but complies nonetheless. _Wouldn't do to get in trouble so soon after getting back onto active duty!_

* * *

It isn't until gone seven pm, that Marinette finally gets home. She slips through the door, locking it behind her. Now that she's in, the first thing she does, as she does every day, is check her online portfolio and commission site.

Marinette plops herself down in her wheely chair and logs onto to her computer, going through all the verification and security Max had kindly added. A new commission notification grabs her attention. With three clicks, she brings up the new commission's details. She scrolls down to the name of the commissioner: one Mr 'T. Drake-Wayne'.

Curious as to why the name sounds vaguely familiar, Marinette opens up a tab on Google with a hum and types in the name. Upon reading the top results, she half chokes in shock and thinks to herself, _Are you kidding me?_ She blinks and breathes in, a small part of her very glad she wasn't drinking anything otherwise she definitely would've fully choked on that or spat it all up from the shock. _I know a bunch of well-known celebrities have all commissioned me many times before, but still why the heck is a fortune 500 CEO commissioning me? I'm not Audrey Bourgeois, Gabriel Agreste, or even Valen-hecking-tino. I do celebrities, not fortune 500. The heck. What. The. Actual. Heck._

Eyes wide and gobsmacked, Marinette shakes her head and clicks back to her latest commission's details page to read through the actual commission. After reading the first line, she scrambles for her sketchbook and begins jotting down notes and scribbling down ideas.

Half an hour in, Marinette takes a break to sort out and eat dinner, _no point designing on an empty stomach_ but once she's done eating and washed up, she goes straight back to designing.

Even at a quarter past midnight, she's still at it—surprisingly only three drafts in and so thoroughly lost in her own head in designing, Marinette nearly misses the knocking against her window facing the fire escape.

The rapid _rap-tap-tap_ spooks her so much that she falls out of her chair with an “Eep!”

Marinette, face flushing bright red, scrambles up and scurries over to the window in question. Shoving her blinds out the way, she stares through the window and is greeted with the _absolutely glorious_ sight of a beaming and uninjured Red Robin holding two takeaway coffee cups on the fire escape. He waves at her with one hand and gestures for her to join him on the fire escape.

She can't help but grin back at him and deftly opens the window and slinks out onto the fire escape. He hands a coffee cup towards her and instead of taking it, Marinette gives him a good ol' bearhug— ~~smooshing~~ pressing her face into his Kevlar armoured chest. _Which is unsurprisingly, very uncomfortable_. She shifts her head to stare up at him (as he's at least whole head taller than her) “Hey,” she greets.

Awkwardly hugging her back, as to not spill either of the coffees in the process, “hey yourself,” Red Robin responds, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead.

Marinette pulls back from the hug and nabs the coffee cup that had been offered to her before their hug. “Thank you~!”

“No problem.” He then gestures towards the fire escape stairs leading to the roof, “after you.”

“So which of our cases did you manage to get a lead for?” She asks, making her way up to the roof.

“The one pertaining to the new drug ring in the fashion district. I've narrowed down where they're storing the drugs to potentially three warehouses near Miller Harbour.” Red Robin answers, following after her.

Reaching the roof, Marinette sits down on the half wall around the roof edge. She glances over at Red Robin as he joins her on the improvised seat. “That's the drug ring dealing Miraclo right?”

“Yeah, that's the one.” He pauses to take a sip of his coffee, “I got the intel from an old friend of Catwoman's called Mackey lives in an apartment that overlooks the Harbour and saw a shipment of the drug arrive at the warehouses.”

Taking a sip of her own coffee, Marinette raises an eyebrow. “And will Detective Grayson and I will be able to get that intel as witness statement?”

Red Robin nods. “Yep, Catwoman's vouching for you both.”

She jerks back in surprise, nearly toppling off the half wall but managing to cling to the edge in time to keep her from falling. Miraculously somehow managing to avoid dropping or spilling her coffee. _Oof, if it wasn't for my stint in Spandex I definitely would've made a fool of myself in front of Red Robin. And here I thought that part of my life had since passed_. Marinette thinks to herself, wincing at the newly gained superficial graze across her palms. She clears her throat and attempts to look like she didn't just nearly fall off a half wall. “Catwoman's vouching for us? Since when? I've literally never encountered her before.”

Red Robin, _the traitor_ , snorts at her predicament. “You are the epitome of elegance. And Detective Grayson's bumped into her a few times on the job.”

“ _Thanks_.” She responds drily, layering on the sarcasm thickly. She shakes her head and sighs. “So do you know what the addresses are for the warehouses and this Mackey's apartment?”

He takes an excruciatingly slow sip of his coffee before speaking. “Of course I can, what kind of vigilante do you take me for?” He then proceeds to rattle off the addresses.

Which Marinette jots down on the napkin that came with her coffee, and puts it into a pocket for safekeeping. “Thank you.” With it written down, she pauses then starts kicking her legs in the air. She sniffs. “And I take you for the kind that flirts with innocent police officers.”

Red Robin grins at her as he gently elbows her in the ribs. “I don't hear you complaining.”

Marinette scoffs and slaps her hand to her chest in an overly dramatic mock of shock. “Unfair! If I complained I wouldn't get any hugs or kisses from you!”

Humming he wraps an arm around her shoulders and presses a kiss to her temple. “That's true, what a shame it would be for you to miss out on all those hugs.”

She hums back and the two ease into a comfortable silence; leaning against each other and sipping their coffees whilst staring at the night sky.

Once Marinette gets halfway through her coffee, she glances at Red Robin and hesitates, her earlier conversation with Detective Grayson springing to mind. “Communication is key in healthy relationships,” she prefaces, “so are you okay with our current relationship? Y'know the flirting, the not-dates, the whole me not knowing your identity?”

Red Robin laughs, sounding slightly bitter. “Of course I'm fine with the flirting and not-dates but I'm not going to lie and say I don't have any worries over you not knowing my identity. It's one of the reasons a relationship I had with a fellow mask didn't work out.” Rubbing at his jaw, he tilts his face away from her slightly, as though reminiscing about something. He then shakes his head and turns back to her. “Really, I ought to be asking you that. So what about you, are you okay with how our relationship is?”

Marinette hums. “This isn't the first time relationship I've had with a masked hero.” Then takes a calm sip of her coffee.

“So you've got a thing for masks then huh? Lucky me I guess.” He responds, smirking mischievously, and whilst she can't see the rest of his face thanks to the cowl, Marinette just knows that he's wiggling his eyebrows at her from underneath that cowl.

His comment nearly sends her tumbling off the half wall—again. She coughs and splutters in laughter as she nearly spits up her sip of coffee. It takes her a full thirty seconds to recover and mock gripes, “remind me why I love you again.”

Red Robin cocks his head to the side and grins. “Because I bring you coffee?”

She huffs, “good point.”

“So back to the mask thing, can I ask what happened with your masked hero relationship?” He asks, tone hesitant. He stares at her, ready to back off the topic at the slightest sign of discomfort from her.

Marinette hisses through her teeth and states, “I can trust you.”

His stare conveys an 'I would hope so' whilst he bobs his head a little in a 'yes you can' and a 'please continue' gesture.

She takes a deep breath before speaking, “I used to be a hero, back when I lived in Paris.”

“Oh?” Red Robin freezes, thrown off guard by her admission.

Nodding, Marinette continues. “It was difficult. We started when we were barely teens and had no training and no support except for temporary heroes we could bring in when the battles got too hard for just me and my partner to handle. When we started, we were repeatedly told to never, under any circumstances, let anyone find out our identities. My partner and I, neither of us knew who the other was beneath the mask. And we only knew the identities of the temporary heroes because we gave them the ability to become superheroes. But even then we didn't always know their real identities and they certainly never knew ours.”

“Yikes.” Is all he can respond with, mind racing with questions. “That can't have been good, at least I had Batman and Nightwing when I was starting out, but you had no one to talk to about being a mask, outside the mask.”

She flashes him a watery smile and sighs. “No, I did have someone. Tikki. But we're uh, not in contact any more. Since I retired.”

Still, Red Robin makes a noise of concern at that.

“Anyway, one thing led to another led to another, and my partner found out my identity.” Marinette puts her coffee down then tips her head back and closes her eyes. “We started dating not long after that. But once we defeated the BBEG terrorising Paris and some… _concerning_ things came to light, our—we,” She shakes her head, “we realised that because of that, neither of us were emotionally able to continue our relationship in a romantic way. So we decided to stay friends and I—uh, I retired and moved to Gotham.”

He puts his coffee down as well, and pulls her into a tight hug, although making sure it wasn't too constricting as to not make her uncomfortable. “I'm sorry.”

She leans into the hug, rests her head on his shoulder, and delicately wraps her arms around him in return. “What? Why? It's not your fault.”

Red Robin frowns, not that she can see in their current position, “I know but no one should be forced into becoming a hero at such a young age with no support network.”

Huffing, Marinette buries her face in his shoulder, somewhat muffling her voice but not enough to make her unintelligible, “what about Spoiler? She became a hero around that age and had no support network.”

He sighs. “Spoiler chose to become a vigilante, she wasn't forced. And anyway, she had Robin and the rest of the bats to support her once they realised what she was doing.”

“Hmm… fair.” Marinette pulls back from the hug and pauses. “On a lighter note, I got a commission on my fashion site from Tim Drake-Wayne!”

Red Robin raises an eyebrow and with poorly concealed amusement, responds, “Oh? And what's so special about him”

She rolls her eyes at him. “He's the youngest fortune five hundred CEO, founded the Neon Knights among other charities, and often donates to various charities around Gotham! Plus Wayne Enterprises is one of, if not _the most ethical_ company in the fortune five hundred bracket. Employees get living stipends, and training and higher education paid by the company. They get healthcare and dental insurance. They get flexible work hours, paid breaks, and receive above minimum wage pay!”

He laughs. “I guess he is a pretty decent sounding guy then.”

“Mhmm.”

“So what's the commission then? Or is it a secret?” He teases, leaning towards her.

Marinette dramatically places her hand over her heart. “I _guess_ I can spare you the details this _one_ time.”

“Wooh!”

She bites her lip before launching into a long ramble about the commission, gushing over what design and colour palette she's thinking of going with, what bots and bobs and patterns to add, what stitch to use and how to make sure it fits his style, etc.

Red Robin spends the entire time listening attentively, despite not really understanding half the fashion terms, and staring at her like a love-struck puppy.

“Damn, I love you!” He exclaims once she finishes speaking, then leans in to kiss her on the lips.

Marinette bursts into giggles and kisses him back. Her giggles are seemingly infectious, as once they part from the kiss, both are giggling and flushed red.

A bright flash of white followed by a camera shutter sound immediately distracts them both. They just manage to catch sight of Nightwing swinging away.

She gives him a look, which is somewhat less effective as she's still smiling from the kiss. “What happened to bribing Oracle, Black Bat, or Batgirl?”

Red Robin groans and drops his face into his hands. “Clearly Nightwing was able to one-up my bribe. Probably in the form of giving them copies of the photos both he and Detective Grayson have taken.”

“You mean to tell me those two are working together? No wonder Detective Grayson was asking about our relationship earlier today at work!” Marinette gasps, sounding mildly horrified and betrayed.

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Red Robin asks, lifting his head up and grinning deviously at her.

She smirks back, “Revenge?”

He nods— _the sagely kind of nod_. “Revenge.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> | Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot! Comments, kudos, and bookmarks are much appreciated! |


End file.
